Beyond the Big 2: May 2008

by Matt

I love going through the Previews magazine every month. I spend hours going through every page, reading every solicitation and I usually find something that piques my interest. Each month I try to pick up a new book that is NOT part of the "Big 2". Now I know this is a little late but here are a couple of new books that I am giving a try from the June 2008 Previews.


FREDDIE & ME GN COMING OF AGE BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
By Mike Dawson
Published by Bloomsbury
Freddie & Me is a wonderfully funny and moving graphic memoir of Mike Dawson's lifelong obsession with Freddie Mercury and Queen. Told alternately from Mike's childhood, teenage and adult perspectives, Freddie & Me explores the way in which music changes and shapes our lives, and the way in which random memories can both prop up and undermine the stories we tell ourselves. The counterpoint to Mike's obsession is his younger sister's love of George Michael and Wham - including several deliciously funny imagined scenes which, like the book as a whole, is written and drawn with a brilliant combination of exuberance and subtlety.

I am picking this up because Queen has been a huge part of my life as well. I am looking forward to reading this novel and seeing how Queen affected his life. Mike and I are pretty close in age (I am a year or two older) and so I am very curious to read about his experiences. I wish I thought of this first!



CHARLATAN BALL #1
By Joe Casey and Andy Suriano
Published by Image Comics
WELCOME TO THE BALL!
Meet Chuck Amok, a down-and-out stage magician pumping the sleaze ‘n’ peanut circuit. When he and his trusty rabbit, Caesar, are transported to a reality where magic actually works… Chuck’s showbiz compulsions take on a whole new meaning. But why was this wayward chucker picked? Only the vile Demon Empty knows for sure! Take your comic book rulebook and tear it up, y’all! This is graphic fiction on shrooms, True Believer!

I am picking this up because it just sounds so outrageous, over-the-top and fun and with a tag line like "Charlatan Ball: The Only Comic Book Where You Can Lick The Pages And Ride Your Own Melt!" How could I resist? Casey's writing is usually very clever so I am looking forward to getting high on this. I wonder if you smoke this comic what would happen?