Graphic novel news

Late breaking news from Titan Books comes in the form of Batman: War Drums, by Bill Willingham and Tim Sale, out now in the UK. From the official press release:

"In this volume, Batman's life is pulled apart. A new drug hits the Gotham streets; Leslie Thompkins, the most important woman in his life, vanishes; and Robin is targeted for assassination, forcing Batman to get an unwelcome replacement - Stephanie Brown, aka The Spoiler!"

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Alan Moore fans shouldn't miss an interview with the comics maestro on BBC Radio 4's Chain Reaction program. The series gives a celebrity the opportunity to interview a person of their choice - Alan Moore is interviewed by Stuart Lee, writer of Jerry Springer: The Opera. Then, the following week, the interviewee turns interviewer and selects a new person to talk to.

You can listen to the Lee/Moore interview via Radio 4's Chain Reaction website until Thursday when, hopefully, it will be replaced by the interview between Alan Moore and his chosen subject - musician Brian Eno. Also, scroll down the page to hear some sections of the interview that were cut to squeeze it into its half-hour slot.

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Charley's War: 2 June 1916 - 1 August 1916 by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun.

The UK edition of Global Frequency: Detonation Radio is out today from Titan Books. You can read our review of it here.

Krazy Kat remains one of the most influential comic characters of all time, more than justifying Fantagraphics's release of this fifth volume of collected strips, from 1933 to 1934. Krazy and Ignatz in Necromancy by the Blue Bean Bush is on the shelves today.

As is Hanging Out with the Dream King: Conversations with Neil Gaiman and His Collaborators. This collection of interviews by Joseph McCabe examines the broad spectrum of Gaiman's work, talking to people he's shared his work with including Tori Amos, Terry Pratchett, Dave McKean, a host of other comic artists and, of course, Gaiman himself.

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Out today. From the official press release:

An unusually usual day-to-day story in the Deep South, set in the gothic, swampy southern town of Wet Moon, a place fraught with lousy love lives, teen angst, and shadowy rednecks. As Cleo Lovedrop heads off for college at the local art school, she's haunted by her melancholic past: a lost love, a lost child. Friends and enemies live their lives around her, as trouble and dissent brews amongst them: an unseen social assailant spreads slander about Cleo, she is forced to deal with her two brusque roommates, and discovers unsolved mysteries about the girl who lived in her room previously. Elsewhere, Trilby deals with unsettled emotional and sexual issues, and keeping her secret habits hidden from everyone. And Audrey comes to the realization that, despite all her efforts, she always causes her friends distress, while Fern, a peculiar, deformed girl who lives in an isolated mansion in the bayous, begins to notice Cleo and her friends. As the moon grows full and lunar rays shine down, lunacy and moon-calves run free. Goths, friendship, romance, sex, betrayal, gossip, cats, murder, guilt, a squirrel monkey, and all the terrible and wonderful things people do to each other.

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

As promotion for the forthcoming movie Constantine kicks into action, DC Comics and Titan Books are churning out the collected editions. Out today are Constantine: All His Engines, by Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco; and Constantine: Hellblazer - Rare Cuts, which brings together some of John Constantine's shorter adventures from writers including Garth Ennis and Grant Morrison.

Also out from Titan today is the latest collection of Tom Strong spin-offs -
Terrific Tales, in which, amongst other things, we see some adventures of the young Tom Strong. Also look out for JSA: Savage Times and Transformers: Dark Star.

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Alternative Comics has two new graphic novels out today. The publisher says that Stickleback, by Graham Annable, is a "funny, quirky sketch of friendship, confrontation, and the desire to be left alone." Brandon Graham's Escalator is a collection of "short comics with a cast of sumo heroes, Graffiti writers, truck drivers from the future and alien pornographers as they try to get through their lives with all the demonic possessions and cannibal school girls that get in the way."

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Creatures of the Night by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli.

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Global Frequency: Detonation Radio by Warren Ellis.

Ferret Press is giving away a copy of Strangehaven, the graphic novel by Gary Spencer Millidge. Head over to the competition page to enter. [via Thought Balloons]

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - The Originals by Dave Gibbons.

David B's graphic memoir about growing up with an epileptic brother is published today by Pantheon Books. Check out our Epileptic review to see what Grovel made of it.

Regarded as the father of the graphic novel, it's with great sadness that we hear via his website that Will Eisner has passed away. He died on January 3rd following quadruple bypass heart surgery, leaving an incredible wealth of comic writing and drawing behind him.

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Locas by Jaime Hernandez.