New Arrivals

Thu, Feb 23, 2006

There are a couple of very unusual graphic novels among today’s new arrivals, one very modern, one with much older roots. Put the Book Back on the Shelf is an anthology collecting various writers and artists together from Image Comics – the common theme is that each tale is based around a song by Glasgow band Belle and Sebastian. I’ve seen bands with comics before of course, but it tends to be Alice Cooper or KISS and not so much the darlings of the Indy scene. It is certainly something pretty unusual and well worth checking out, especially if you are listening to their new album.

The Superman Chronicles Volume 1 could hardly be more different; DC are making all of the Man of Steel’s comic adventures available in a new paperback series, which is far more accessible and affordable to many fans than collecting large numbers of their gorgeous but expensive Archive Editions. The series will reprint Superman’s many adventures in chronological order, starting right here with Actions Comics #1 (with that now immortal cover) from 1938. Who then would have realised that these two geeky Jewish kids, Seigel and Shuster, were creating not only one of the most iconic characters of pop culture ever, but helping to give birth to a whole new genre which has evolved over the decades into the comics industry we love today?

Sure these tales here lack the sophistication of modern comics and the art is quite basic, but then there were no readers in 1938 with years of reading and being familiar with comic book superheroes; the language and rules had ye to evolve, for creators and readers alike. It may be simple, but this is the start of something huge – and it is still fun! Following our caped demi-god the Batman would arrive the year after, then Wonder Woman – within a few years Captain America would be fighting the Axis powers. The superhero had arrived and a new mythology for a modern era had been created; imagine how dull our world would have been without them.