Off the Shelf is a new weekly feature to compliment, or condemn, the regular "Comics of the Weak" feature that runs on Mondays. Off the Shelf is a similar take, for graphic novels, trade paperbacks, or whatever odd sort of comics collection doesn't fall into the pamphlet variety. As these are usually longer and more involved than the comic books that get mostly reamed at the "Weak" there's less likely to be as much hate thrown out them--not because longer comics means better, but just because this reader is less likely to finish something he hates, and therefore, it won't make these reports.
The Walking Dead
Volume 7: The Calm Before
Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Charlie Adlard & Cliff Rathburn
Published by Image Comics, 2007
Here it is, the zombie comic that outsold the rest of the trade paperbacks in some vaguely useless rating of trade paperbacks and how well they sell. As the sub-title indicates, there's a storm coming--and per the usual Walking Dead style, what the storm is, or will be, isn't indicated until the final page of this volume. Instead, The Calm Before is standard Walking Dead fare--the little group of survivors that the book has collected have finally started building a successful community in the abandoned prison they've made their home. Here, a child is born, a marriage is celebrated, and a depressed woman finally, after a heartrending setup spanning near the length of the entire series, takes her own life. As always, Adlard & Rathburn's art is as stark as necessary, as haunting as possible, and as gruesome as expected. Kirkman doesn't get much affection from this reader 
for his abysmal work on the Ultimate X-Men comic, but all the success that Walking Dead earns is rightly his. The Walking Dead still consists of about a 50/50 scale of "stuff you've probably seen in zombie movies" and "stuff that's pretty original," but considering the dearth of real alternatives in mainstream comics, it's nice to see something that isn't coated in spandex given such respectful treatment. As serialized stories go, this series is one of the few that merits a long run--and it's sales seem to reflect that. After all, this is one of the few post-apocalyptic stories that plays into what makes that fantasy such a constant one in stories: anybody can imagine what the world would be like if one woke up tomorrow and most of the people in that world were gone. Walking Dead, as the back cover always reminds us, isn't really about a zombie apocalypse. It's about what happens to people when all wants are stripped from them, and about how they go about pursuing what they need--some kind of society, food, and a chance in a quiet corner to hope for something better.
The Walking Dead's Wikipedia Entry, includes full plot breakdowns.
Rubber Blanket # 3
Edited by David Mazzucchelli & Richard Lewis
Writing and Art Chores by Mazzucchelli, Ted Stearn, David Hornung,
Massimo Semerano & Francesca Ghermandi
Published by Rubber Blanket Press, 1993
Luckily found for a mere 8 dollars, direct from the New York apartment where it's publisher resides, Rubber Blanket # 3 is one of those happy finds that's difficult to even think about negatively. After all, n
ot everybody can get a copy of Rubber Blanket, which, try as one might, makes it certainly feel special. Everything in Blanket--the one page gag strips about a couple of miscreants, the mildly idiotic fable about an elderly shut-in and her sycophantic son, and the brilliant "Big Man" story--is so superbly constructed in terms of story and art that it almost seems heresy to not exalt it's praises to the mountaintops. Truthfully though, the best of this issue is "Big Man" whereas everything else wouldn't
be out of place in the countless anthologies put out by Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf & Fantagraphics--all of which are far easier to come across than a pristine Rubber Blanket. (Issues 1 & 2 vary in Ebay prices of 50-140 American, and don't exactly have the page count to merit the cost.) Still, "Big Man" is the sort of story any cartoonist would, and should, be ridiculously proud of. A Frankenstein tale set in a haunting Depression era heartland, Mazzucchelli showcases everything that makes him a talent in this short story. It's a gutsy, simple work that jumps out of the page, living in the readers mind for days afterwards. It's comics at their best. It's also a remainder of why it's a sad state of affairs when a man with Mazzucchelli's obvious skill doesn't have more of his excellent work more easily available.
Mazzucchelli's bio at Read Yourself Raw.
My New York Diary
Writing and Art by Julie Doucet
Published in Hardcover by Drawn & Quarterly, 1999
Considering how bloodthirsty Doucet fans can be, it's with trepidation that this reader admits--Ehh. Okay, we suppose. The amount with which one enjoys the "story of a collapsing relationship" comic is usually in inverse proportion to the amount that of these sorts of stories that one has already read. As in, the first 20 or so that you read seem pretty fantastic, and then you start getting a little worn out, and then you just feel like you're reading another issue of Batman, except this time it's a Batman with epilepsy and a clingy Alfred.
Doucet's bio at Lambiek. Doesn't have all the choice quotes regarding quitting comics, those are to be found at Wikipedia.
The Nikopol Trilogy
Writing and Art by Enki Bilal
English Translation Published by Humanoids Publishing, DC Comics, 2004
Ahh, the Humanoids line--DC's version of an abortion prior to the abortion they had this year with the Wildstorm line. Apparently, if you take a bunch of foreign comics that no one, excepting the random world traveler, was clamoring for, and then publish an insanely ambitious amount of them in mildly expensive softcovers, and then you don't advertise it, like, at ALL, it doesn't end up selling that well. Who saw that coming? Oh wait, that's right, a five year old.
While the Nikopol Trilogy is certainly an interesting read, it's the sort of thing that appeals to people who like to read books about science fiction universes where people eat flying dust and live inside robot-bug colonies while working on the "theoretical market" and studying time collages. That's not really to this readers taste. It makes 
sense, in it's own dorky way, but "makes sense" doesn't exactly translate to "likable" in this case. I can comprehend that the gods of Egypt (you know, the ones with the animal heads) live inside a flying pyramid and hang out around Earth and shooting lasers from their eyes while practicing routine cybernetics, but it doesn't necessarily mean that was an area in my life I needed to spend more time with.) As a side note, this comic, and the movie made about it, spawned something called chess boxing, which is a hybrid sport of, you guessed it, the game of chess, and the game of punching the shit out of people. For reals.
The only link you care about. The Official Chess-Boxing Website.
Nana Volume 7
Writing and Art by Ai Yazawa
English Translation Published by Viz Media, 2007
Why is it that even trying to explain a Nana plot, or even remotely thinking about it, makes one's voice rise about six octaves and inspires giggling? It's got to be one of the most infectious soap operas ever put to the page. Each and every volume hints at some ultimate revelation of what's coming, the omnipresent future that the narrator voices from, yet all that seems to matter is what's happening right now, right here--is that kid going to stop sleeping around for money? Who's the drummer with the shaved head in love with? And is it all going to work out for Nana and Ren? Meanwhile, the other titular character continues to have the most insane melodramatic relationship for the 7th time in as many volumes, with the 452th guy she's fallen in love with. Lesson for young girls who read Nana and take it as a model for behavior: you don't have to sleep with everybody who holds your hands, and yes, sometimes he's lying to you. Boys SUCK!
Free online previews of Nana: Chapters 1 & 2
Off To The Revolution
Cartoons by Pat Oliphant
Published by Andrews & McMeel, 1995
Old political cartoons can, when done well, actually make the reader more disgusted than new political cartoons. Reading about an oil crisis and the repeal of civil liberties in a 2007 newspaper gets the blood boiling, but a nice banana-strawberry smoothie knocks that right out. Remembering that it's been going on since 1994, and then remembering, oh yeah, before that as well--that's no fun. Geez. Maybe i should do something about...oh, wild. Lookey how they tied Wonder Woman up. She's preeeettty.
Some excellent Oliphant cartoons:
-Tucker Stone, 2007
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