Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for Under a Dollar

Two of my previous articles, Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny & its sister article were somewhat popular, so I looked to write a third entry, but I found that there are many great graphic novels that, while costing more than a penny, were easily affordable and should be considered must reads for a comics fan (in my ever so humble opinion). And so for those of you with slightly deeper pockets, I present to you, 10 great graphic novels being sold on Amazon for under a dollar.

The Milkman Murders  By Joe Casey & Steve Parkhouse. In a reverse perfect Donna Reed existence, a housewife who is trying to keep her extremely dysfunctional family happy is raped by a wandering lunatic driving an old fashioned milk truck. Parkhouse's art blends with the script brilliantly. The perceived grime and filth is everywhere. Each character is foully drawn that you can smell the grime and BO wafting off of them.

Uther The Half Dead King   By Bo Hampton & Dan Abnett. This is the story of King Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, a brutal military leader whose character is often used as a foil of Arthurs own golden age. The story deftly mixes Arthurian legends with English history. He is presented as a man shaped by his times. He had the ability to survive the times, but not to tame them, and that ultimately cost him his life.

Silk Tapestry and Other Chinese Folk Tales: Songs of Our Ancestors Volume 2 

By Patrick Atangan. Three beautifully illustrated short stories from Chinese mythology. In The Silk Tapestry, an old woman's last hope to live well is in the completion of a magical tapestry, which opens to paradise. In Sausage-Boy and his Magic Brush, a boy's magical paintings that come to life attracts a greedy woman. In The Creation Myth of Pan Gu a lonely spirit sculpts the Earth from a cosmic egg in hopes it brings him some company.

Age of Bronze- A Thousand Ships  By Eric Shanower. This is part one of the Trojan war, specifically all of the events that lead up to the launching of the 1,000 ships after Helen of Troy. As you can see from the bibliography, the author put an intense amount of research into creating the right look and facial constructions for the time period. All mythical elements have been removed from the tale, except as being told as stories within stories themselves, and a logical reasoning has been applied to the mythic tale.

Aetheric Mechanics By Warren Ellis & Chris Deier. A short but filling work. Ellis follows the trend of mixing up various 19^th Century genres and characters together to create a wide world, but this one has an interesting twist and an ending that makes this story great. Highly recommended.  

AKA Goldfish  By Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis’s breakout comic. The story of a wronged grifter coming back to town to take revenge on all those who had wronged him, plus one other reason. The story is fast paced and compelling, deftly mixing humor and tragedy into a brutal crime noir tale.

The Birthday Riots By Nabiel Kanan. The story of a once progressive middle aged man who now has been worn down and corrupted by the realities of life. He is an advisor to a man running for mayor and tells him not to focus on the needs of lower class, as it will not get him as many votes- an exact opposite of who he used to be. This is a low key tragic tale of man stumbling through the wreckage of his now tattered morals and caught up in an actual riot, a partial result of his own actions.  

London's Dark  By James Robinson & Paul Johnson. An interesting tale set in London during the blitz. A man is murdered during an air raid and, after his body is found, the police naturally assume he was a victim of the Germans. Later on his mother goes to a psychic to contact her dead son, only to have him tell her that he was murdered. Things get out of control from there. The art is stark and realistic, perfectly capturing a sense of grime and grittiness of the time.

Silent Invasion: Secret Affairs & Red Shadows  By Michael Cherkas & Larry Hancock. The Silent Invasion is one of those rare books that was truly ahead of its time. Coming out in 1986, it was a black-and-white comic, well before black and white comics were fashionable. It dealt with a secret government conspiracy, involving aliens, well before the X-Files popularized the idea. The Silent Invasion was a victim of its own originality, and never got the recognition that it deserved. It is a paranoid cold war thriller that revolves around reporter Matt Sinkage who after having an encounter with aliens, cannot convince others of their existence. This collects them first two, of four, volumes.



         Hope you’ve found something of interest here. And as always you can check out my What I’ve Been Reading Page for any more suggestions. Enjoy and Caveat Emptor!


For more weirdness try Across the Wounded Galaxy by Rex Hurst

Ten More Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny

Previously I did an article called Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny , which I found useful to feed my reading addiction. But as was pointed out to me there are many more good books going cheap on Amazon. And so for those who want more, here are an additional 10 great graphic novel going for dirt cheap on Amazon.

Moving Pictures by Kathyrn & Stuart Immonon

The story of a dangerous relationship between curator Ila Gardner and Nazi officer Rolf Hauptmann, as they are forced by circumstances to play out their private lives in a public power struggle. Set during the Nazi occupation of France during WWII, the story unfolds along two timelines which collide with the revelation of a terrible secret and the realization that sometimes the only choice left is the refusal to choose.

A.L.I.E.E.E.N.: Archives of Lost Issues and Earthly Editions of Extraterrestrial Novelties by Louis Trondheim

What at first glance appears to be a charming wordless graphic novel for young children turns out to be something more complex and much more sophisticated. The language and even the alphabet are alien, but as human readers will soon discover, the themes and stories are universal. These interwoven stories and vignettes start out quite simply, but a darker, more complex side is gradually revealed as alien characters act out very human problems, from peer pressure to intolerance to the challenges of friendship.

Fuzz and Pluck: Splitsville by Ted Stearn  A David Lynchian children's story scenario where talking animals, animated toys and regular humans coexist in a landscape of surreal seediness; that's exactly what Stearn achieves, and the results are both dreamlike and picaresque as lovable teddy bear Fuzz and his pal Pluck, a denuded rooster, find work at Lardy's sandwich joint only to become separated and embark on strange journeys of despair and violence.



The Wild Party: The Lost Classic by Joseph Moncure March & Art Spiegelman

A jazzy, insistently rhyming roaring '20s period poem, banned in Boston when first published in 1928. Penned by the New Yorker's inaugural managing editor, is borne out by March's dither of hard-edged rhythms recounting the boozing, brawling and fractious lovemaking of an all-night party ending in a murder.The Wild Party is now given new life and expression, with March's text accompanied by more than 75 drawings by Art Spiegelman.

Incredible Change-Bots by Jeffrey Brown  Far away in space, there is a planet full of robots able to change from robot form to vehicle form - the Incredible Change-Bots! Leaving their war torn planet, the Change-Bots arrive on Earth, where their battle continues - but at what cost?! Part parody, part nostalgic tribute, part moral fable.


Red Meat: A Collection of Red Meat Cartoons From the Secret Files of Max Cannon

This strip features a disturbing and sidesplitting cast of characters that includes latex-clad fathers, sadistic milkmen, vomiting robots, malformed neighbors, incontinent inter-dimensional beings, decomposing clowns, and other bizarre characters. This is an acquired taste and Cannon stands out as a master of the "disturbing humor" strip.

The Jew of New York In 1825, Mordecai Noah, a New York politician and amateur playwright possessed of a utopian vision, summoned all the lost tribes of Israel to an island near Buffalo in the hope of establishing a Jewish state. His failed plan, a mere footnote in Jewish-American history.



Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum This book is on the surface, the story of a dog and a cat with balding human heads, but is more a character study of three (there is also a suicidal bird) New York City guys, bumming around the Big Apple. It is an interesting surreal journey that plays out extremely well. I wish to see a lot more from this author. 

Invincible Days by Patrick Atangan A collection of short stories from the author’s youth in the 1980s. As usual with this author the art is impeccable and the stories are well thought out and presented. Page design consistently follows a rigid nine-grid layout. Flat, expressionless animal faces mask the emotionally laden themes explored throughout the collection. These characters serve as voice for a shy Filipino boy baffled by Western culture and living in a house full of sisters.

Empire State: A Love Story (Or Not) by Jason Shiga
A Story of an introverted man, who follows a girl that has friend-zoned him, to New York City after writing her a letter describing his feelings after asking her to meet him on the Empire State Building. The work is done exclusively in red and blue tones, which some people have debated the symbolism of, I took the colors to represent the protagonist's level of comfort- Red means he's comfortable with his surroundings, blue means he's ill at ease. Agree or disagree as you will.

Hope you found something on this list that interests you. For more reading suggestions try out my What I've Been Reading page. Have fun!




   

 

Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny

As I discussed in my previous entry, Reading As an Addiction, I’ve digested an inordinate amount of books and graphic novels over the years. To better support my habit I have a rule in that I never buy a book when it first comes out. Give it enough time and the price will always go down. Thus I can get four to five older books for the price of that new release. If I’m lucky, the price on that book has dropped a ridiculous amount, often to a penny. So for those of you who must feed the literary monkey on your back, here are ten great graphic novels being sold on Amazon for one cent.

Three Fingers by Rich Koslowski- This is a fun, behind the scenes, pseudo-documentary of the cartoon scene, where toons live alongside humans as second-class citizens. Mimicking a television expose’s hyperbolic format, Koslowski alternates confessional head shots of interviewees with "archival" stills that narrate the history of toons in film. It chronicles the rise of a Walt Disney character and his greatest actor, Ricky Rat, and the terrible secret they have.


Suburban Nightmares: The Science Experiment by Larry Hancock, Micheal Cherkas, & John Van Bruggen- A collection of nine stories from the independent comic of the same name. The running theme here is one of the paranoia of post-war 1950s America manifesting in anti-communist hysteria, the atomic bomb, aliens, all wrapped in a suburban setting. The art here is distinct, sticking with Cherkas standard black and white blocky style, which adds another level to the paranoia of the series.

2024 by Ted Rall-  An adaptation of Orwell's 1984 to fit modern times. Rall does an amazing job here in staying true to the feel of dread surrounding Winston, but operating in a strictly capitalist, rather than socialist, society. Where Orwell’s Big Brother wanted a country where every person was completely focused on the goals of the party, in Rall’s interpretation total distraction is the party’s plan, where the citizens are so immersed in consumer crap that they don’t care what the powers-that-be are up to.



Volcanic Revolver by Scott Morse- 1930s New York is a dangerous place to be. Crime lords battle for control of the streets, and the web of corruption extends from the docks through the media and up to the highest levels of government and religion. Though just one player in the city's grand drama, Vincenzo is skilled in many arts. He paints, runs a bakery, and runs a secret counterfeiting operation. When a rival mob family sends a bomb into Vincenzo's shop, it starts a chain of events that shakes up the underworld and leads to an elaborate plot for vengeance.


Strangehaven- Arcadia by Gary Spencer Millidge - Alex Hunter crashes his car to avoid an apparition in the winding road. When he awakens he finds himself in Strangehaven, a gently off-kilter village that he first doesn't want to leave - and then finds himself entirely unable to escape. He soon encounters some of the village's bizarre inhabitants. This is a greatly underappreciated story by a master artist, and his work keeps getting better and better. While this story takes its time, I feel that it is worth the journey.


M by John J Muth & Adam Kempenaar- Based upon the Fritz Lang film of the same name, about the hunt for a pedophile haunting the streets of Berlin in the 1930s, ending with a very intense trial scene. While the action is the same as the movie, what brings this graphic novel out are the photorealistic paintings, making this an unforgettable story. 


Crecy by Warren Ellis & Raulo Caceres- This the story of the battle at Crecy in France where the smaller army of England’s Edward the III faced the seemingly overwhelming forces of Philip the IV of France, yet England prevailed, cutting down “the flower of French Chivalry” in an afternoon and, reportedly, spawned the use of England’s two finger salute. Told from the perspective of foot soldier, this is a fascinating tale filled with all sorts of historical tidbits.


Rocketo- Journey to the Hidden Sea Vol 1 by Frank Espinosa & Marie Taylor- In a far flung destroyed earth, where the magnetic poles no longer exist, the Mappers chart the new seas. After returning from a war a broken man, Rocketo Garrison is swept away on a journey to the Hidden Sea, a fabled land that may hold the key to an ancient mystery. This is truly a different story, filled with tons of imagination and flair, and a unique illustrative style. 

Solstice by Steven T. Seagle - An off putting business mogul goes on a trip for the Fountain of Youth in South America, after discovering that he has brain cancer. His son Hugh goes with him, his other son having committed suicide years earlier due to the father’s incessant bullying. As the book opens, Hugh is making a one-handed attempt to keep his father from falling to his death on the summer solstice in equatorial Chile. Hugh fails to save Russell, but only after relaying the backstory in a tangle of crisscrossing flashbacks.

Clover Honey by Rich Tommaso- This is not the revised, redrawn twentieth anniversary version of the book, but its original presentation- that I felt needed very alteration. Abigail is an aspiring hitwoman out to prove her value to the family. She braves the wilds of Newark, overpriced parking, traffic jams, and bad hair days to track down Trevor, her former mentor, who is on the lam with a big briefcase of mob dough.

Hope you’ve found something that peaks your interest. For more suggestions check out the What I've Been Reading  page

For more weirdness try Across the Wounded Galaxy by Rex Hurst

The Madison-Felix Awards- Miscellaneous Hogwash

The Madison-Felix Awards was an awards show in Buffalo New York, which ran from 1995-2005. It was put together by my friend Big Brian and I. In reality it was a parody of an awards show mixed with an open bar drinking contest. Still it was fun and irreverent and some of the best parties I've ever had. But like all good times, they eventually drifted off to the land of nostalgia. The next four blogs are dedicated to their memory.

Location

          The first year Big Brian and I had the Madison-Felix awards it was in a rented back room of a bar in North Tonawanda (those who know the city, recognize it to be the least of the Tonawandas), which was also being used by another party. We were separated by a partition, but that didn’t prevent them from continuously sticking their mullets in to make a stupid remark or just gawp at us. The only means of we had to show clips was a borrowed 24” TV and a VCR. Hardly satisfactory, but then we didn’t put too much effort into it.

         When we made the decision to do a second year, we had to find something more suitable. One day, I went to the DMV to get my license renewed, it being located then in the Northtown Plaza in Buffalo, and I happened to notice a place, called The Screening Room, tucked away in a corner of the plaza, completely unobtrusive. It was primarily a place that rented itself out for private parties and business seminars, though occasionally showed films on the weekends.

          I walked in and was overjoyed. A large screen filled an entire wall. Seating was done with café style table, adorned with a candle, and could handle up to 60 people. We could have the place to ourselves, no uninvited jerks. It was perfect. I talked to the owner and we reached an agreement.

          The Madison’s had found its home for the next nine years. On the day of the last show, we presented the owner (he was a great sport) with a plaque commemorating the show, which hangs on the Screening Room wall to this day. 

                                                             Ode to Knockers

One of the traditions at the Madison-Felix Awards was the reading of Jeff Death’s (RIP) epic poem Ode to Knockers. Jeff’s greatest passion in life was large women, specifically large women with large breasts. And he immortalized his love in verse.

          I hope I shall never see

    A bra size smaller than double D

          Hazel Court running down the stairs.

          Knockers are best because they come in pairs.

          I like knockers (said with a wolfish grin)

          Oh Kitten, oh Tiffany, oh Chastity

          Come away with me

          We’ll go to my farm

          And live high on the hog

          And have big-titted daughters

          That’ll take turns on my log.

                                                        Lisa’s Story

          Every year Lisa P. would entertain the crowd with a soft core pornographic short story, often involving her pet, Tucks the Masturbating Cat- a beast which spent way too much time rubbing its genitals. My mother, of all people, delighted in these tales more than anyone else.

          Her stories were great because they transcended the genre which they were lampooning. By themselves they were lonely housewife romance fodder, littered with the standard cliché’s of “his staff sprang free” and “she grew moist with anticipation”. And yet they revolved around some of the most ridiculous situations I have ever heard. She really was a pioneer of the comedy porno niche- which if it isn’t a thing should be one.

          My favorite one was a story she wrote about Matt Schultz, a frequent guest who habitually had a fight with his on-again off-again girlfriend at the Madisons. In it Lisa described a sexual encounter that Matt had in the bathroom of The Screening Room. Most of the details escape me, but it involved much soap spilling and the roll of toilet paper spinning with every thrust. They were truly unique works.

          BTW Schultz has since declined to add his voice to the menagerie assembled for the guest blog position which will be in two weeks’ time. As to the Schultz fights with his girlfriend, they became an expected part of the festivities. They were so anticipated that one show his girlfriend accidentally knocked a glass on the floor and the entire audience dropped to silence, thinking it was finally going to go off. Then a slow chant began to rise up from the crowd “Fight fight fight fight!” The crowd kept at it until the girlfriend stormed out of the place, Matt chasing after her. A self-fulfilling prophecy.

Benny Hill

          We started the tradition of slipping a Benny Hill clip into every show during the 6^th Madison-Felix awards. We were tallying up votes and discovered that everyone had unaccountably voted for Jessica Tandy in Fried Green Tomatoes for the Best Supporting Actress Award, rather than Mink Stole in Pink Flamingos – which is what we wanted to show. Brain and I grumbled and moaned at the thought of having to dredge a clip up from the turgidly sappy flick. It went on until I said,

          “Fuck it. Let’s not do it.”

          “Then what are we gonna show?”

A man of subtle variations

          It hit me. Benny Hill had been dead a few years by then, but I still loved his material. I had grown up watching him on late night television, sneaking downstairs to see the show when I was supposed to be sleeping. Most males of my generation who grew up in Buffalo had an appreciation of him. To many he was the English guy who had lots of ribald sexual jokes, in-between songs and slapping an old guy on the head. But I have to say that Benny Hill was one of the best physical comedians that ever graced the screen. A latter day Charlie Chaplin.

          Brian agreed, loving the idea. We inserted the clip which began with several women dancing- the audience being a little confused since it obviously wasn’t Jessica Tandy- then moving onto the back of Hill’s head wearing one of his patented fuzzy blonde afro wigs. When he turned around and revealed his face, the audience went wild, surprised and overjoyed at this inclusion of an old friend. How could they not be?

          After this it became a Madison’s tradition to slip a clip of his in unannounced. He always appeared to applause.

Threatened by Faye Dunaway’s Lawyers

          One of Big Brian’s assumed duties (he assumed them since I didn’t bother) was to attempt the monotonous task of attracting someone famous to the show. In the days before email was commonplace just finding where to send the letters to was a long and arduous task. As with many things with Big Brian I was never quite sure whether he was serious or not, and it was probably both. Brian’s main goal in life was to be amused and it amused him to write letters year after year, only to gather deafening silence in return. Until we didn’t.

          It wasn’t an acceptance letter, but a cease and desist from the lawyers representing Faye Dunaway. Brian has always had a red head fetish and his greatest lust in life was the notable actress (her and Wilma Flintstone). Every year he invited her and every year the letters got weirder and weirder, to the point where he was offering to “let her stay at his place as long as she wanted” (understand this was just Brian’s sense of humor) and describing the delights of Buffalo in such a way as to sound like it was the worst place in the world this side of Beirut. Hence the threatening letter. I’m just glad my name wasn’t attached to any of them- at least I think they weren’t.

          And this leads us to…

Threatened by the Academy Awards

          Apparently not all of the letters sent out ended up directly in the trash. Around the time Brain and I were putting together the 6^th show, he received a letter from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (the Oscars). Someone had gotten wind of our “rogue” awards show and for a completely inexplicable reason were demanding that we place a disclaimer in the ceremony stating the Madison-Felix Awards were in no way associated with their little show. We complied. Why not, we thought it was funny. From then on we opened the show with this denial and a picture of an Oscar crossed out.

The Award was Stolen Once

          The Madison-Felix Award, a plastic VHS tape spray painted gold, and glued to a faux marble base- symbol of our renegade status- was once kidnapped. After the 7^th show, Brain called me up to ask if I had the award. I replied negative.

          “Someone’s stolen the damn thing.” He roared.

          “No way. Who the hell would want that?”

          He hung up unhappy. About a week later a letter was dropped in my mailbox. In it was a Polaroid of the award tied to a chair and a ransom note made from cut up advertisements.

          “Bring one million dollars to the Amherst Theater at midnight this Friday or else the award dies!”

          Well we couldn’t have that! That Friday I stuffed an envelope with 10 $100,000 bills from my old Game of Life set and placed it in the designated spot. We received no reply. Like the Lindbergh baby villains, the kidnappers took the cash and absconded away never returning the prize.

          We never found what happened to it- apparently it was lost. But the next year when giving away the Most Annoying Use of a Child Award, Matt Schultz admitted to being the culprit. Very good.

Buffet

          This is where my obsession for every little detail comes in handy. Part of the package of the Madison-Felix’s was a buffet to stabilize your body after all of that beer (We assumed that they got drunk and if they didn’t, they weren’t doing their job damn it!). It was standard Buffalo buffet fodder consisting of pizza and wings and a slathering of celery and carrot sticks- which are traditional with wings in Buffalo for some reason. It wasn’t great, but then no one was there for the food.

          The placement of a meal was initially a problem for us. Originally we served the meal at the beginning of the show, everyone got their fill except for a few stragglers, but by the end a lot of people were still hungry. So we decided to move the buffet until the end of the show- that lasted a year. Half way through the show there was a mutiny and most of the crowd charged into the room where the food was kept, whereupon they gorged themselves. Then they relaxed and started chatting. As the years went on and people moved in different directions they lost touch and would only see each other at the Madison-Felix awards. So they decided to catch up and the babble of their voices drowned out the show. Never let it be said that we didn’t learn from our mistakes. Thus ever afterwards we stopped the show half way through and opened the trough for all.

The Registry of Death

   The Registry of Death is a 56 page graphic novel by Australian artists Matt Coyle and Peter Lamb published by Kitchen Sink Press in 1995.  I first ran across it in Mid-Ohio Con in the late 90s during my routine excavations into the dollar bins - a particularly favorite activity of mine. If ever I thought that I had gotten a great bargain, it was when I snatched this up for 50 cents. it remains one of my favorite horror comics ever.


 It is a different book from your standard graphic novel, mostly consisting of single panel illustrations with captions at the bottom of the page. The pictures are bold, brutal, and mixed with traces of cold antiseptic cleanliness. They aren't explicit, but an anger and viciousness underlies each of the them. Everything is a little bit off in these illustrations (by design), every face is twisted ever so slightly, as if their souls had been stripped away and only the beast remained. The images are haunting and stay with you long after you're finished with the book.

The story is simple. A man, who works for the Registry of Death as an eliminator, now finds himself targeted by that group, seemingly out of nowhere. He has to strive the onslaughts of his former colleagues, a group of unrepentant sociopaths, as he tries to figure out the truth.

The book is simple, yet within it I find a complexity. Every time I read this book, I see something new. It's an overlooked masterpiece that stays with you for a long time afterward.

Buy it here