Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: Comics, comix, sale, top shelf

Greg Baldino Rummages Through The Top Shelf Comix Sale

Published Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:00:07 -0500

Greg Baldino writes for Bleeding Cool

Top Shelf Comix, one of the finer upscale American publishers who remind us that comics ARE an artform, damn it, and not just a breeding ground for movie pitches and action figures (Although okay, I would buy figures of any of Colleen Coover's characters,) is having a massive sale that will last only slightly longer than this elaborate run on sentence.

Through Friday September 23rd, dozens of Top Shelf titles are being reduced in price, some as low as a few dollars. There's a lot of great titles you can pick up (like the excellent Gingerbread Girl by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin,) and here's the skinny on three that are definitely worth throwing down a couple of bucks.

THE 120 DAYS OF SIMON
Most autobio cartoonists transcribes as is, but Swedish cartoonist Simon Gärdenfors had the "brilliant" idea of coming up with a concept and living it out. 120 Days follows Simon as he travels throughout Sweden, never spending two nights in the same place for four months. What starts off as an exercise in indulgences becomings a harrowing experience of self-realization as through misadventure after misadventure, Simon figures out who he is and what matters most to him. A steal at $3; buy an extra copy to keep in the car.

SUPER SPY VOL. 2: THE LOST DOSSIERS
Okay have you read Super Spy, Matt Kindt's amazing multilayered story of espionage, betrayal, and redemption set against the backdrop of the European theater of World War 2? No? Okay, go buy that too, even though it's not on sale. Than add The Lost Dossiers for $3 extra. It's an amazing collection of the comics book equivalent of B-sides and DVD extras, including a lost story, annotations, lost of art, and fun cut-out activities.

THE INCREDIBLE CHANGE BOTS
Man oh man, if you've ever wondered what Transformers would be like if it didn't take itself seriously AT ALL, look no further. If you've ever wondered the same about the Go-Bots, then you have thought more about the Go-Bots than was ever really necessary. Downtown Jeffrey Brown brings his sketchy pen & ink style and off-kilter sense of humor to the story of two warring factions of shape-shifting robots who are probably more of a threat to themselves than each other. Imagine Wes Anderson taking over from Michael Bay and you're kind of on the right track. Additional: If you think the Transformers as a concept is ridiculous and stupid you will like this EVEN MORE. Hardcovers and trade paperback editions of both titles are reduced. (In fact you could conceivably buy one, then pick up a $3 title or a couple of $1 books, and think of it as paying regular price but getting free books!)

This barely covers even a fraction of the stuff they have on sale, including some recent titles. Check it out; if you've never picked up a Top Shelf book before, now's the time to give them a look.

Greg Baldino lives and writes in Chicago, where he still hasn't picked up his copy of Action Comics #1 from the DC Relaunch just yet. And yes, he totally put that in there just to boost search hits for this article. If this results in even one die-hard DC fan picking up one of James Kochalka's Sketchbook Diaries or Craig Thompson's Blankets, it was totally worth it.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!