This time around we have even more pages for the same price as the older volumes. And Templesmith did the gorgeous cover. Whee!

CBR.cc: “Popgun” Takes A Fourth Shot

Newsarama.com: “Pop” Rocks! Creators & Editors On POPGUN Volume 4

I’m digging these articles. Will post more as they come along.

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/12/15/best-of-2009-comics/

“BEST MINISERIES
Rapture (Dark Horse)
It’s been said that true love can survive anything, but whoever said that never suffered through armageddon. Michael Avon Oeming and Taki Soma test the limits of romance against an apocalyptic backdrop in Dark Horse’s “Rapture,” a truly stand-out epic due to its expertly crafted plot and world design. With cannibals aplenty, starvation mounting and superheroes at a premium, love very well could fall in the face of the hellish world of “Rapture” — but that’s not stopping me from loving the hell out of this book.
- Josh Wigler”

BEST ALL-AGES COMIC
“The New Brighton Archeological Society” (Image)
“New Brighton” readers get the best of two worlds in a story that’s fun to read on its own and a comic that can be shared with readers of any age — whether they can read it themselves or have it read to them. In fact, it feels like Mark Andrew Smith and Matthew Weldon have all the ingredients for success in “New Brighton”: a spunky group of kids with lots of free time, a wild world ripe for exploration, fantastic creatures culled from various faerie tales, and dangers that manage to be scary without being truly terrifying. It’s the sort of book we’re quite certain we’d love when we were little, but get a kick out of reading now, too.
- Rick Marshall

(I lettered RAPTURE and designed NBAS, for those who don’t know.)

Written by Mark Andrew Smith
Art by James Stokoe
Colors by Rodrigo Avilés
Lettered & Designed by Thomas Mauer

http://www.amazon.com/Sullivans-Sluggers-Mark-Andrew-Smith/dp/1607062534/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260746875&sr=8-1

Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: Image Comics (May 19, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1607062534
ISBN-13: 978-1607062530

“Long past their former glory, the minor league Sluggers get an invitation to play a baseball game in a cursed small town. After the 7th inning stretch, the sun goes down, and the dysfunctional teammates find themselves fighting for their lives against a town of flesh-eating monsters! Now, it’s up to coach Casey Sullivan to put down the booze, step up to the proverbial plate, and help his team escape from being the next dish in the town’s terrifying feeding frenzy! Harvey Award-winning graphic novel author Mark Andrew Smith joins forces with Eisner Award-nominated illustrator James Stokoe for a gripping rollercoaster of a graphic novel, packed with shocks, gore, and screamingly outrageous humor, when America’s Favorite Past Time becomes one team’s nightmare!”

DEC09 0379

The book will be in stores next February. It features a cover by Ben Templesmith, is even longer than the last two volumes clocking in at 512 pages, and is chock-full of awesome stories.

Don’t miss out, order as quickly as you can!

If you’d like a taste, sample a few of the stories on the official Popgun site: http://popguncomics.com/

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/08…h-archaia.html

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One publisher I’ve meant to cover on Graphic Novel Friday for awhile but haven’t, due to that aforementioned press of books, is Archaia. Archaia consistently publishes quality work, and they have three new titles this year that should hit a number of different reader sweet spots–from talking mice to zombies to mythology…

Awakening by Nick Tapalansky, Alex Eckman-Lawn, and Thomas Mauer – Billed as existential horror, this moody, sometimes disturbing graphic novel uses a dark but expressive color palate along with photo-realistic renderings of backgrounds to achieve a gritty, atmospheric tension. I can’t say that the detective element or the zombie element are that unique, but in combination they create a powerful effect. The city of Park Falls has been haunted by a series of murders and disappearances. A retired police detective sets out to investigate, only to find the cause isn’t your “normal” serial killer. Thomas Mauer, the letterer, gets equal billing with the writer and artist, and it’s easy to see why: the lettering is superb, and contributes to the success of the brooding and eerie settings. Mauer’s influence on the success of Awakening is particularly evident in the way he handles the “voice-over” text and other layering effects. If you like hardboiled and you don’t mind zombies and situations that will make the ttle hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, Awakening‘s adult approach to crime and to the supernatural should be a good fit.

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Among others, we’re talking about workflow, sound effects, captions, and Outlaw Territory. Check it out.