Mark's Box - April 2010

Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi - From the author of A Drifting Life. I have high hopes for this. I think I'll go read it right..... now.












Donald Duck Classics: Quack Up by Carl Banks - I enjoy Donald much more on the page than on do I on the screen.












The Compleat Cannon by Wallace Wood - Super Spy comics from the 60s with lots of violence and sex. Sounds like a good time to me.

Mark's Box - March 2010

Almost Silent by Jason - A new book by Jason! Yay! It is awesome! I'll be buying Jason books until I die.












Sexy Chix by various women - A compilation of comics written/drawn by women. I accidentally ordered two copies of this, so if you want one...












Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker & The Treasure of the Dragonsnakes by Tom Taylor - I've been buying these cool looking Star Wars Adventures books, but haven't read them yet. The stories sounds fun and they skew young, but the art looks great and I am looking forward to them.

Mark's Box - February 2010

No Hero by Warren Ellis & Juan Jose Ryp - Written by Warren Ellis, so there is a high probability it will be good. Other than that I know nothing about this book.












Rose by Jeff Smith - The prequel to Bone, which I haven't read.













The Barry Windsor-Smith Conan Archives by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith - I really enjoy the old Conan comics, so I'm looking forward to tackling this book once volume two arrives.

Mark's Box - January 2010

I've decided to stick with the Amazon links thing for two reasons. It is easy and no one is reading this stuff anyway.

Dead @ 17 Afterbirth by Josh Howard - One of my all time favorite series continues. Josh Howard is awesome and you should be reading Dead@17.












Moyasimon by Ishikawa Masayuki - A dude can see bacteria. He goes to agricultural school. Hilarity ensues. Who knew that bacteria were so adorable?












Atomic Robo by four names I don't feel like typing - The word all over the street is that Atomic Robo is awesome. So, i decided to find out for myself. The street is right.

Mark's Box - December 2009

I haven't posted anything in awhile, so I'm going to do some quick posts to update what has been in my boxes the past few months.  Also trying out this Amazon Associates thing which will hopefully make oit easier for me to do these posts. Finding decent pictures and reviews can sometimes be a pain. Maybe Amazon can help. So, without further ado....

Criminal by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips - I've been wanting to get caught up on Ed Brubaker's older stuff and this crime series is supposed to be excellent. I've got quite the stack of Brubaker sitting unread on my shelf. Incognito, Sleeper, Criminal. I really need to find some time to dig into this stuff.










The Summit of the Gods by Yumemakura Baku & Jiro Taniguchi - I have basically decided to buy any book that Ponent Mon releases. Especially if Jiro Taniguchi is involved. I'm not particularly interested in the subject matter of this series, but I have yet to be disappointed by a Ponent Mon book. Someone there really knows what they are doing.









The Misadventures of Jane by JHG Freeman & Norman Pett - I am obsessed with all things British, so I couldn't pass up the chance to find out more. Jane was a World War II-era pinup and comic strip character that was very popular with soldiers. Possibly because she always seemed to end up missing some clothing. This was an entertaining read, but not brilliant. A nice peak into the past.

Mark's Box - November 2009

Quite a nice box again this month. A couple items from this box went right to the top of my stack and I've already read them. I haven't touched any of the featured items from last month yet. They are too huge to throw in my backpack for work, but I'll be trying to get them read soon.

Titles from this month that I have mentioned before: Freakangels vol 3, Whiteout vol 2, Runaways vol 9 & 10, Echo vol 3, 20th Century Boys vol 5, Sword vol 3. Lots of excellence there. And now the top three for the month...

Strangers In Paradise Omnibus by Terry Moore - This will surely be one of the top books of whatever year I read it. It is so huge. This is a limited edition, so if you want one you should go order it right now. If you like comics at all, this is for you. This comic has it all. I have read the first 2/5ths of this and I can't wait to sit and read the whole thing through. I think the only place to get this now is at Terry Moore's website.

A Distant Neighborhood, Volume 1 by Jiro Taniguchi - I have been anxiously awaiting this book for over a year. Jiro Taniguchi is one of my favorite manga creators. I heard about this book from the publisher at Comic-Con 2008 and it is finally here. This story is so right up my alley. A 48-year-old takes the wrong train and finds himself mysteriously transported back in time. He is 14-years-old but retains all the knowledge of how his life turned out. Check it out on Amazon.

Fell by Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith - A few years back, I used to go to the comic book store every wednesday and buy individual issues of comics. I don't do that anymore. Now I buy the trade paperback collections because they are easier to read and store and are often cheaper. This is one of my favorite comics from those issues days, but I only read the first couple issues before I stopped going each week. So, I am really looking forward to more of this awesome book. Check it out on Amazon.

Pile Of Shame - Vampire Update

Weekend is over and I cleared something from my pile of shame! Yay me. I completed one play of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Too many words in that title, but what an amazing game! It is a pc game from 2004 that really should be talked about as one of the best RPGs ever. I wasn't expecting a long, engrossing, awesome game when I fired it up. I did the little 'answer these questions to select your character type' thing and jumped right in. Totally enjoyed almost every minute of it.

Why isn't this talked about as one of the best games? Well, it was super-buggy and then then the company went out of business. So, the internet did something right for a change. Over the years they have patched the game to make it super-playable. Thank you internet! I bought the game on sale for $5 from Direct2Drive and then patched the game with the latest fan patch from Tessmage.com. Ignore all the digital porn on that site and just download the VTMB patches. Took a bit of time to get all the patches installed and working, but it was totally worth the effort.

I played thru once and there are four other endings possible, so I will definitely be back. If a certain game containing dragons wasn't being released in two hours and forty-seven minutes, I would be playing VTMB right now.

Holy Shits! I just found a totally different mod that will make future playthroughs super excellent. The Companion mod will allow you to recruit and control other characters. Have them fight for you, hang out in your haven, etc. I definitely am glad I played it solo on the first game, but this should make future plays interesting in a whole new way.